What the Heart Wants
by DisneyLover100
Summary: Book Four: Fourth in the Spencer/Chelsea series. Spencer and Hotch are both back at work with no sign of Foyet. As Spencer's knee heals he thinks more about asking Chelsea to marry him. Will The Reaper's plans for Hotch delay his proposal?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I'm sure it is obvious, but again as a disclaimer - I do NOT own Criminal Minds or any of its characters, but I'd love to. :)

This is a continuation of my first 3 stories following the relationship of Spencer and my OC Chelsea Lozano. _Damaged: Time to Heal_, _The Healing Continues and The Support of Family and Friends_. It also references the oneshot _Home at Last_ regarding Spencer's encounter with Lila Archer.

All of my own characters are established in my previous stories. It would be helpful to read the others before reading this. This picks up the directly after _The Support of Family and Friends._ I hope you enjoy this and leave reviews.

* * *

The team arrived home from New Jersey on Spencer's 28th birthday. Chelsea arranged for the team, Kevin, Will with Henry, Jack, her mom and grandpa all to come over for a simple dinner celebration. It had been a hard few months for the team and Chelsea knew they needed the time together to celebrate something. Although the team didn't normally exchange presents, everyone had brought something. Even Hotch had brought a gift. Garcia brought homemade chocolate chip cookies, Morgan gave him an iPod so Chelsea could download some music or lectures for him to use on the jet, JJ and Will brought a framed photo of Spencer holding Henry from a few weeks before.

Spencer was most surprised with Rossi's gift. He had given him a gift card for two dinners including wine at an expensive Italian restaurant in DC. Saying thank you with a very confused look prompted Rossi to smile and say, "A friend of mine owns the restaurant, but you'll understand better when you open Chelsea's gift."

He opened Chelsea's small package last. Inside he found two tickets to see the _Chicago Symphony Orchestra_ perform _A Night at the Movies_ at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night.

"I know that you would prefer Beethoven, but when I found out that the Chicago Symphony was going to be in town I thought you'd want to see them regardless of the program." Chelsea said nervously.

Spencer was in awe. The Chicago Symphony was known as one of the 'Big 5', one of the best five orchestras in the world. He never thought he would have a chance to see them in person. "This is amazing!" he said. "How did you get tickets for this? I would image they sold out very quickly."

She smiled and visibly relaxed. "I noticed a flyer on a bulletin board for the upcoming season at the Kennedy when I was visiting my mom at Georgetown last spring. As soon as the tickets went on sale in May, I bought them. I knew it was just after your birthday, I was just hoping that you wouldn't be out of town on a case. I'm still hoping that actually."

Before Spencer could say anything else, Hotch spoke up. "It's already Thursday night, if we get called on a case before Saturday, I'll keep Spencer on the no fly order until Monday. We just got back and I haven't had time to update your file." He said to Spencer with a smile.

"Thanks," Spencer said towards Hotch, "to everyone" as he looked around the room. He leaned over and hugged Chelsea. "I don't know what to say. I can't believe you've had these tickets for so long."

"I kept them at my mom's so you wouldn't accidentally run across them." She said smiling. "I asked David for a recommendation for dinner in the area, but I had no idea he planned on giving you the gift card. Thank you," she said towards Rossi.

#

Spencer and Chelsea enjoyed their night out completely relaxed. Hotch told him to turn his phone off for the evening. If anything came up, they would call in the morning. Even when they weren't on call, they all kept their phones on just in case an emergency arose.

The night even was even more special without the stress of work possibly interrupting them.

That night Spencer started to make plans to propose to Chelsea. He could not understand why she had chosen him, but he knew he couldn't live without her. He still loved his job, but he finally understood that there was more to life and he was excited to come home to her. She kept him balanced and with her he almost never felt any cravings for Dilaudid. He understood he would always be an addict and need to be careful. He talked to Bob about his addiction on a regular basis, but it was more of a preventative method than of a current need.


	2. Chapter 2

The team's next case was almost a week later. The case involved several brutal murders during a home invasion in an up and coming neighborhood of DC. Chelsea had seen the reports of the murders and vandalism on the local news and knew the area. Her dad had been murdered near there when it was a very a seedy part of town. Recently there had been a lot of revitalizing of the area with new restaurants and retail stores going in trying to bring more middle class families into the town homes that were all under renovation.

Being a local case, the team was able to go home at night, but all of them were determined to catch the unsubs and only slept a few hours each night. Surviving each day mostly on coffee.

Spencer called Chelsea each night to let her know of the progress of the case and if he would be home at all. She had been following the case both from the media and talking to Spencer. She was surprised when the on the third night the news was reporting riots at Dupont Circle linked to the murders.

Later that night when Spencer called her she said, "I've been watching the news. This doesn't sound like the profile you had on the unsubs."

"We don't think it is the unsubs, but the DC police don't want our help any longer."

Chelsea was surprised; "They think you were wrong so they dismissed you?"

"Pretty much. They originally asked for our help, but you know we can only assist as long as they want us to."

"What does that mean?" Chelsea asked. "Are you coming home?" As much as she wanted to see him, she knew if his team was sure that the unsubs did not start these riots they were most likely correct and were still needed.

"I don't think so. Hotch wants us to keep working the case."

"Can you do that without their permission?" Chelsea asked.

"We can't do anything official, but we haven't been put on another case yet. Hotch wants us to keep working on the profile. We are predicting that once this riot settles down and the news reports that this damage was the work of the unsubs, they will attack again to prove they are not in custody. They won't like getting upstaged by a bunch of teenagers. Sometime tomorrow we believe they will instigate an even a more brutal attack. We can't do anything but wait."

Chelsea cringed; the murders had been very brutal. According to news reports the bodies were so severely beaten that they needed dental records to identify them. She didn't want to even think about something that could be more brutal.

Spencer continued, "Hotch is sure that we are correct and as soon as something else happens the police will welcome our help. This isn't a case of them fighting over territory, they honestly think we were wrong and they have the suspects in custody from the riot. No one wants these guys loose in the city."

Chelsea nodded, even though Spencer couldn't see her. "Be safe. I love you."

"I love you too," he said with a small smile. "I'll call you as soon as I can. Get some sleep."

#

The next night Spencer was home before dinner, but was too tired to eat. Hotch had given them the next day off. He had told them all to get some sleep. They had earned it.

Spencer gave Chelsea a quick update on the case. The team had been correct. The unsubs had nothing to do with the riots and had struck again at a local bar the next morning. They had nailed the bartenders hands to the bar with a nail gun before they killed him and another patron. "That lead Morgan to believe it could be some construction workers." Looking at Chelsea he said, "You know that there has been a lot of renovation work in the area. Morgan thought that there could be a resentment component to the murders."

"That's a whole lot of resentment, to lead to all those violent crimes." Chelsea thought out loud.

"There was more to it, they all had violent tendencies and when you add to that working for home owners that they felt looked down on them with a pack mentality it was a time bomb waiting to go off. They killed a contractor several months ago and hid the body in the wall of a local home. Morgan and Prentiss figured out that connection and had to tell the owners about the body in their wall," Spencer said not going into every detail of the profile and arrest. "It was a difficult case for the police in that area, tensions were very high. We profiled that the pack would prefer suicide by cop, but that was not the outcome we would have hoped for."

"I'm glad it's over and the people in the neighborhood can sleep easier tonight. I'm especially glad you're home tonight and have the day off tomorrow," she said smiling.

"I think Morgan might be interested in someone he met on the case." Spencer stated changing the subject from the violent images.

"What?" Chelsea was a little shocked by Spencer's comment. "A DC cop? I thought Derrick had a rule against dating any girl that carried a weapon," she said smiling.

"No, not a cop. I don't know for sure," he continued hesitantly, "but I saw him a couple of times with the sister of one of the victims. He even drove her home when she arrived at the precinct after she heard the news of the riot arrests. He is always good with family members so I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but…"

"But what?" Chelsea asked laughing. "You can't stop there." She wasn't a big gossip girl, and she never heard Spencer gossiping before and she was curious where this was going.

"Well, uh, Garcia was acting all weird with him and I overheard something about not getting emotionally involved in a case. I don't know what to think. I never talked to her and don't know anything about her. From the paperwork I read her name is Tamara Barnes," pausing, "I don't even know if she is single. I just know she was one of the first victims, Thomas Barnes' sister. I really shouldn't be talking about this, should I?"

"You know I won't tell anyone," pausing. "Interesting. I hope that it works out. PG works with victims groups and is probably overly nervous." She wrapped her arms around Spencer's neck and with her lips almost touching his she added, "I'd like to see him as happy as we are."

Spencer tried to say he agreed, but her lips were on his. He smiled into the kiss and hummed his agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This chapter contains an explicit racial comment from a suspect. There are also several cuss words. If this offends you, please do not read this chapter.

* * *

Only three days after their local case ended they were off to Albuquerque searching for an unsub that killed and dumped young women within 48 hours of giving birth. The team apprehended a husband and wife team that had abducted a dozen women, impregnated them, and after they gave birth, killed them. Unfortunately the aftermath of the case would continue to haunt families for years. Many babies of the past victims that had been adopted under illegal circumstances and it was going to take a long time and many legal battles to sort it all out. The wife had stage 4 cancer and probably wouldn't live until the trial. They had solved the case, but they did not leave feeling victorious.

On the plane home from New Mexico the team decided to head straight to a restaurant when they landed. They all needed to lift their spirits and have fun as a group. Spencer contacted Chelsea, Morgan called Garcia, and JJ talked to Will. They all agreed to join them at a local restaurant/bar. The team arrived about 4pm and decided to start in the bar while waiting for the others. Chelsea was the last to arrive and took the final seat between Spencer and Morgan. It was a Thursday night and the bar was empty at that early hour. There was a dance floor with a full DJ system that probably was well used on weekends with a sign stating that a DJ would be spinning from 6-11 that night. A waiter from the restaurant side of the building saw the team sitting in the bar and went over and turned on some prerecorded music and took their drink orders.

Everyone was ready to let off some steam from the case and with no one else around to watch, they had fun on the dance floor. It started with Garcia pulling JJ on the floor and after only a couple of minutes she decided that all of the girls should dance. Chelsea was in mid sentence talking to Aaron when Garcia pulled her up and JJ gabbed Emily. Garcia was yelling something about all the girls HAD to dance. When they all were on the dance floor Chelsea recognized the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" playing and laughed as the four of them got crazy on the dance floor. For the next 45 minutes the team all joked around, even Rossi and Hotch managed to get up for a few songs. The song mix consisted of upbeat songs from throughout the years and everyone heard a few of their favorites. Knowing they had the entire bar to themselves gave them the opportunity to not be self-conscious dancing.

Part of Spencer felt bad that he wasn't able to get out and dance with Chelsea and the team, but mostly he was glad the crutches gave him an excuse not to participate. The group made sure that someone always stayed at the table with Spencer. They didn't want him to be left alone, even though he tried to convince them he was fine by himself. He was enjoying watching and had a hard time keeping he eyes off the way Chelsea was moving her hips.

Around 5:00 they had all danced themselves out and were happily chatting about nothing in particular. The case was now forgotten and they were all content with relaxing together waiting for a dinner table they reserved at 6:00. They didn't pay attention to the two guys that took a seat in the booth at the back of the bar.

Chelsea was sitting on Spencer's right side with her hand resting on his good knee under the table when Morgan stood up put his hands on her shoulders. He looked down over her head and asked, "Pretty boy, can I please borrow your girlfriend for a minute? I want to try some dance moves and I need a partner."

Spencer looked up at his friend and said seriously, "You don't need my permission to ask Chelsea to dance, although it would be nice if you asked her directly." He was a bit confused why Morgan would think he needed his permission.

Chelsea turned to Morgan smiling, "Don't you usually grab PG when you want to dance?"

Morgan mumbled something about Babygirl trying to lead. Holding out his hand, he asked formally, "Chelsea would you do me the honor of joining me on the dance floor? I'm 'In The Mood' to try some new steps."

Rossi was the first to catch the pun. "Very good Morgan," he said, "I'm glad to know you listen to more than jazz and rap." Everyone else stopped to listen and heard In The Mood by the Glenn Miller Band playing over the speakers.

"Hey Rossi, Give me some credit," he laughed, "I love all types of music." As he turned towards Chelsea he saw Reid starting to speak and continued, "OK, before you say anything Kid, you're right I don't like Beethoven." Everyone laughed and Spencer blushed.

Chelsea shook her head, but stood up and took the hand he offered and started to move with him to the dance floor. On the way there, she caught his attention by whispering. "I know I'm not a profiler, but what is the real reason you wanted to dance with me not PG."

Morgan sighed and said, "I started seeing someone recently. She was the sister of a victim and Garcia isn't happy with me. She's afraid that I got emotionally evolved during a case and it will end badly. We've been out only once, but we talked a couple of times during this last case. She wants me to take her dancing and I wanted to have a fast refresher on some swing steps."

They had stopped in the middle of the dance floor talking in hushed tones close together ready to dance. Chelsea didn't mention that she knew about Tamara and asked, "Do you think she likes you because of the case? Transference, isn't that what it's called?"

"I don't know. I only know that I like her and I'm willing to take a chance. She understands my crazy hours and has seen first hand what we do." Then changing the mood of the conversation, he smiled, "Not everyone is as lucky as Reid to find someone perfect for him that also gets this job."

She figured out he was changing the subject, but just smiled and said, "OK, show me some of the moves you plan to use on this lucky lady."

Morgan looked relieved that Chelsea had dropped the subject and started to swing her around the dance floor. Morgan was skilled at leading and Chelsea had little trouble keeping up. Near the end of the song, after he had twirled her a full 360 degrees, he grabbed her by the waist and spun them around. She couldn't help but grab him around the neck to keep her balance. When the song ended, she slid down his body until her feet were safely on the floor. He gave her a formal bow thanking her for the dance and she smiled and curtsied. He took her by the hand and led her back to the table placing her hand back on Spencer's knee under the table and thanked him also.

Emily was the first to speak, "That was wonderful! Morgan, I had no idea you could dance like that. What other talents have you kept from us?"

Everyone joined in with the compliments, both to Morgan and Chelsea. As she thanked all of them smiling, she noticed that Garcia had kept quiet during the exchange. They were still ribbing Morgan when the hostess came to tell them their table was ready.

Chelsea leaned over to Spencer and said told him she wanted to go out the car and change her shoes. While dancing the strap on the shoe had irritated a blister and she had a pair of Converse in the car. As he is always the gentleman, he offered to go and get them or to go with her. She declined saying that her car was in the back of the parking lot and she didn't want to make him walk anymore than necessary on his crutches.

As she opened the heavy restaurant door she had to shut her eyes at the contract of the brightness of outdoors. The sun wouldn't set for another couple of hours and they had been inside the dark bar long enough not to think about needing her sunglasses. She had left her purse with Spencer draped over one of his crutches and had her phone in one hand and keys in the other. The road was busy with cars driving past, but only a few pedestrians were on the street. As she turned around the corner of the restaurant she noticed that the parking lot was deserted with only a few cars parked. When she had arrived, a large truck that had the Coke logo on the side was delivering beverage canisters for the bar, taking up most of the parking lot. She had to park in the back. Chelsea heard the heavy restaurant door slam closed in the distance. She started to feel uneasy alone in the lot. Her grandpa had taught her to always pay attention to her surroundings and nothing seemed out of place, but she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up.

Holding her phone, she thought about calling Spencer. She thought that just hearing the sound of his voice would make her realize how silly she was being. She unlocked her car and opened the back door. As she reached down to grab her Converse, she was about to hit 'send' on her phone when she heard a couple of drunks laughing. As she turned her head she noticed two guys in cowboy hats laughing and looking her way. She realized they were drunk and she quickly changed her mind from calling Spencer and decided to call Morgan. If the guys went straight to their car she would look paranoid, but she thought to herself better safe than sorry.

She kept her back to the men and moved slowly away form the open door towards the trunk. She didn't want to be easily pushed into the backseat. She could hear and feel the guys still moving towards her as Morgan answered the phone laughing and saying, "Miss me? Ready…" his voice trailed off as he heard her ask for help.

"I think I'm in trouble, Derrick," she whispered. She heard him say "What?" and she said it again as she placed the phone on the trunk and turned to face the men.

#

Inside the restaurant the team had all made it back to the table and Morgan had grabbed Reid's crutches to lean against the wall as his phone rang. No one paid attention as they heard him answer in a joking manner. As soon as he let go of the crutches he started walking quickly towards the front of the restaurant. Prentiss noticed that he was reaching for his weapon and followed her partner without question reaching for her own gun.

As he pushed open the door into the bright daylight, he paused for only a second squinting to see if there was any danger. Prentiss was right behind him and gave him a questioning look.

"Chelsea's in trouble. I don't know anything else." He stated.

Prentiss just nodded and followed him towards the parking lot. Just as they reached the corner the door slammed shut with a loud bang and they both jumped. As they rounded the corner they both let out a gasp as they saw two guys in cowboy hats closing in on Chelsea. The guys were laughing and did not notice Morgan and Prentiss coming up from behind. Chelsea was backed up against her car. One of the men had his hand on her shoulder with his other hand holding a knife with the tip of it touching the rim of his hat. They couldn't hear the conversation, but both men clearly were taunting her.

#

Chelsea knew that Morgan had heard her plea and now she just needed to keep the guys occupied until help arrived. When she got a good look at them she realized they had been sitting in the bar and must have watched her leave by herself. She noticed that one was playing with a knife, spinning it around casually like it was a toy. She tried to sound calm as she asked, "How can I help you?"

They both laughed and the guy with the knife, obviously the dominant one said, "We're here to help you. We saw you in there dancing with that nigger and we decided to come out and show you what it is like to be with a real man."

With equal parts fear and anger she spoke back to him, "A real man doesn't force himself on a lady."

She knew she was taking a chance, but couldn't help herself. She must have hit a nerve because the guy tossed the knife to his left hand and slapped her hard across the face with his now empty right hand. Almost before he finished the slap the knife appeared back in that hand. "Don't you sass me, you bitch! In fact I don't want to hear ANY more talking from you." Smiling he continued, "Maybe some screaming or moaning, but NO talking."

As he was talking, Chelsea was recovering from the slap and heard the door of the restaurant slam again. She glanced towards the street and saw Derrick and then Emily come around the corner. They were still too far away to help and she didn't want their presence noticed yet. Trying to keep the guy's attention without getting hit again, she asked, "Are you planning both of you taking me here on the ground in the parking lot?"

He smiled coming closer putting his hand on her shoulder saying, "I think your car is the perfect place. Chaz here," nodding towards his buddy, "can keep an eye out for anyone, while I get my prize first. Then I'll let him go a round with you."

Even though Chelsea knew help was only a few yards away, she started to get sick to her stomach and had to cover her mouth with her hand trying not to gag. Just then Derrick yelled, "FBI - Put that knife down and step away from her."

Chaz immediately stepped away and put his hands up. The guy with the knife grabbed Chelsea, pulled her in front of him and held the knife to her throat. "Oh, so her boyfriend is in the FBI and is here to save her. How sweet," he said with a sneer,

"Boyfriend?" Morgan still held the gun pointed at his head, but had no clear shot with the knife held on Chelsea.

Chelsea decided to speak up. "Yeah, he saw us dancing and doesn't think that the two of us should be in a relationship. He seemed to think he would be a better choice for me." Not bothering to correct his assumptions.

Morgan nodded, "Oh, I get it. It's because I'm black. Is that it? You don't think I'm good enough for her?" Following Chelsea's lead hoping to distract him. Prentiss was already handcuffing Chaz's hands behind his back and the rest of the team was coming around the corner.

Chelsea knew that Morgan didn't have a good shot and with the knife at her throat. He could easily cut an artery and she could bleed out fast. She was trying to think of a way to pull away or fall without hurting herself. Her opportunity came when all of the team spread out and pulled their weapons. The cowboy moved his head and yelled at them all to stay back and Chelsea felt the blade turn sideways. She figured this was her best chance since the sharp point of the blade was no longer touching her skin. She took a deep breath, leaned to the left away from the hand with the knife and lifted up her feet so he had her entire dead weight on one arm. As she fell, she heard and felt a shot wiz past her into the guy's shoulder. He screamed in pain and as she fell to the ground she tried to roll away from him.

Before she even had a chance to move, Morgan and Emily had grabbed the guy and Hotch was helping her up and moving her away from her assailant. Once she had caught her breath, Rossi came up and pulled her into a hug saying, "That was a good move. Please don't EVER do that again."

Spencer was there the next second, dropping one of his crutches to the ground and pulling her into an even tighter hug. "Are you OK? Look at me." He examined her face and saw that her red cheek looked like it might bruise. Turning to his friends, "Can someone get her some ice?"

Chelsea watched as Garcia went running back to the restaurant to get some ice and Morgan pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

#

Less than ten minutes after the two were both in handcuffs, the DC police arrived to take everyone's statements. Once Chelsea had given her report she noticed the team was standing around the back of her car with Spencer leaning against the trunk with his crutches beside him. His left leg, with the bad knee, crossed over his good one and his hands holding the trunk on either side of him. Chelsea could tell he was upset about what had happened, but he looked so sexy standing there she wanted to go and kiss him. She wasn't sure what his reaction would be to the public display of affection, but she couldn't help herself and decided to taunt her assailant one more time.

She walked over to Derrick looking at her attacker and said, "Hey cowboy," getting his attention, "Derrick is my good friend." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Then moving over to Spencer, "But Spencer here is my BOYfriend," emphasizing the word as she straddled his long legs keeping clear of his bad knee and kissing him deeply. When they came up for a breath, Morgan was whistling and the rest of the team was laughing loudly.

She whispered to him smiling, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

He was bright red but smiled back. He was so relieved that she was OK that he pulled her in for another kiss ignoring his friends' comments.

#

When the police investigation was done and the guys' rights had been read to them, the two men were taken away in a squad car. The team was starving by now and decided to head back into the restaurant for dinner. The mood had changed from earlier, but they still enjoyed each other's company. Chelsea's cheek was still pink, but it didn't appear that there would be any bruising.

Spencer was quiet on the drive home. He knew that Chelsea calling Morgan was the smartest thing she could do, but it still stung a little that she hadn't contacted him first when she was in trouble. Knowing that with his crutches he would have had to ask the team to go help her made him feel as if he wasn't capable of keeping her safe.

Chelsea looked over to the passenger seat and noticed Spencer was deep in thought. She assumed it was because of what had happened to her in the parking lot. She decided not to bring it up because they both were exhausted. When they got home, they went straight to bed.

Once they were both comfortable and her head was resting on Spencer's shoulder, Chelsea's body started to shake. Spencer held her tight, looked into her eyes seeing tears starting to form. "Hey," he whispered, "Are you OK?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I was fine, but now it's all hitting me. That guy could have killed me or at least badly cut my throat." Her voice was shaking, "He… no THEY wanted to rape me. Right there, in the back seat of my car in the parking lot. If you guys hadn't come when you did, if I hadn't been able to call…" her voice trailed off.

Spencer held her while she cried. "Shush, you're OK, I have you. No one is going to hurt you. They are locked up." He kept consoling her and hugged her tight.

"I know. I was feeling fine and proud of myself for not panicking and now I can't breath, I don't understand. I'm safe now." Her tears continued to flow and she was coughing and gasping for air.

He continued to hold her and ran his fingers gently through her hair. "You were brave. You did everything correctly to get away. I'm proud of you." He continued to sooth her until she started to breath a little easier. "I only wish I didn't have this bad knee. I felt awful that I couldn't help you today. You were smart and kept yourself safe until help arrived." Then he added sadly, "I wish it could have been me you called."

Chelsea hiccupped. She was still shaking but she had finally started to calm down. Spencer holding her was having the calming effect he was hoping for. She wondered if Spencer was feeling guilty that he couldn't be the one to save her. "Spence, I called Morgan because I knew he would be able to move faster than you and if I called you, you would have sent Morgan and the others to help. I just cut out the middle man." She said with a slight smile turning towards him.

His thumb wiped a tear of her cheek as she continued, "It had nothing to do with him. You are injured. You would have first asked him for help and then probably hurt your knee more by trying to help him. Remember when it was over, all I wanted was a kiss from you."

He smiled. "I remember." He started to blush again. "But you first kissed Morgan on the cheek."

"You can't be jealous of that!?" she sat up startled. "I only did that to piss off the cowboys. They saw me dancing with Morgan and thought I was his girlfriend. They were both racist assholes and I was so irritated I wanted them to know that he was my friend and I had no issue touching him. But I really wanted them to know they were wrong and stupid and YOU are the only man in my life." She leaned forward and gave him another deep kiss. They kissed until they were both out of breath.

Spencer was feeling a bit guilty about his thoughts on the car ride home. His only concern was for her safety. He looked closely at her and smiled as he said, "You're not shaking any more."

"Did you do that to distract me?" He didn't trust his voice. He just smiled and started to distract her in another away. As he kissed her again, he moved his hand up under her top and caressed the underside of her breasts. All thoughts of what happened earlier were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the delay. I have been busy, but I also had a bit of writer's block. I knew what I wanted for future chapters leading up to Episode 100, but I wasn't having any luck with the time and cases in between. I finally decided the direction I want to go and I hope that you enjoy it. Thanks for reading. :)

* * *

Chelsea still had not met Spencer's mom. They had planned to take a trip in early September over the three day Labor Day holiday weekend, but Spencer had taken off too much time with his knee injury and he wasn't able to take any more time off. He was also concerned with flying on a commercial flight with his crutches. He was getting very good at maneuvering around with them, but he had been spoiled by traveling on the BAU jet.

He still wrote to his mom almost every day. He had mentioned Chelsea in a letter right after their first date. He would pretty much tell her everything that happened in his life with the exception of the dangerous parts of his job. She did not know about his addiction, but Dr. Norman had talked to him once during a visit just after he became clean that Diana had been having bad dreams about him for several months. Spencer's letters never mentioned anything, but his mother knew something was off about him and it manifested in her dreams. Feeling guilty, he finally had to tell the doctor about the time he was kidnapped and that he had been having some difficulty dealing with it. He told the doctor he had been tortured, without mentioning the Dilaudid and that he finally had received help and was working out his issues. His mother's bad dreams had stopped and Dr. Norman was thankful that he did not have to increase or change Diana's medication.

Spencer continued to write his mom telling her about the progression of his relationship. He felt more comfortable writing things down in a letter to his mother, than he ever would have talking about it with anyone. His mom was excited that he had met someone that didn't "work for the fascists" and was looking forward to meeting her. Spencer called her monthly and on good days Chelsea would get a chance to speak with her also. When Spencer was at home recouping from his knee surgery, Chelsea even started to write a letter once a week to add to Spencer's letters. Dr. Norman let Spencer know how much his mom enjoyed his daily letters from him and that Chelsea's letters were also good for her. Diana even was talking about Spencer's wonderful girlfriend that took the time to write her to anyone that would listen. They started to make plans to visit her after Christmas and over the New Years' holiday.

#

The team was not called away on another case for a couple of weeks. They all took the opportunity to rest and have some fun. Chelsea had moved on from her ordeal in the parking lot and although she told her grandpa about it, she refused to scare her mom with the story. She had a few nightmares, but Spencer was able to wake her up and calm her down and eventually they passed. Everyday he was grateful that the team had been there and nothing had happened. He also realized that it was a relief to know she could stay calm in an emergency if something ever happened to either of them.

Spencer had been thinking about proposing for a long time. He wanted Chelsea in his life forever. He was still afraid of what kind of husband he would be because of his job and he worried that someday he would do the same thing as his father. He could never imagine abandoning Chelsea, but he doubted he father thought about that when he married his mom either. Several people on his team had hinted that he should propose on Chelsea's birthday or Christmas. He didn't want to do that. Her birthday had passed and if she was disappointed that he hadn't proposed she didn't show it. He hoped that meant she was happy to wait until he was ready.

In reality, he didn't want to propose and give her an engagement ring on a day where she would normally receive a present. He wanted it to be a special day for her to remember separately than a holiday.

He had managed to meet with both Liz and Bob in October when he wasn't on a case and asked for both of their approval. He didn't ask for their permission, he didn't feel that Chelsea needed their permission at nearly 27, but she would desperately want both her mom and grandpa to approve. After receiving their blessing, he started to plan everything to make it perfect for her. He planned to wait until he could actually get on one knee and propose properly.

Spencer's knee was healing nicely and he was able to use only one crutch to move around. He was looking forward to his orthopedic doctor to clear him to use only a cane. Chelsea had been out shopping at thrift shops and antique stores with Garcia one day and brought home the perfect antique gentleman's walking stick. It was a smooth highly polished redwood cane topped with an intricately carved bird's head handle. Garcia had named it Herbert and Chelsea had approved. Spencer wasn't sure how he felt about the name, but he loved the cane itself. It was formal enough not to be cheesy, professional enough for work, and still fun enough to make him smile.

One morning while the team was helping the Seattle office with a profile of a bank robbing team, Spencer took the opportunity to talk to Rossi. He knocked on Rossi's open door and when the older agent looked up from his desk, he stuck his head in the office saying, "Do you have a few minutes?"

"Of course, what's up?"

"It's personal," Spencer said has he shut the door behind him and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Rossi's desk. Rossi nodded, waiting for Spencer to speak again. "I've given a lot of thought to what you said after I was shot."

"About proposing." Rossi stated knowingly.

"Yeah," Spencer whispered. "Actually, I can't stop thinking about it. I love her and I want her in my life, but I'm afraid."

"You know she's going to say yes."

"I think so. We've talked about the future enough for me to think she would say yes. That's not really what I'm afraid of" he said trailing off, looking down at his shoes.

"It's this job, isn't it? You've seen all of the divorces and you're worried it will happen to you also." Waiting until he received confirmation from Spencer, he continued, "You and Chelsea are not a statistic and she understands what she is getting into. Plus I know you guys have a good line of communication, that's what keeps a marriage strong. Talking about things, important things. I didn't learn that until too late."

"Yes, that scares me, but it's not only that. What happens if the job follows me home? Look what happened with Foyet. Both Hailey and Jack are in danger and their life has been turned upside down. I don't think I'd survive if something happened to Chelsea." Then he surprised Rossi by laughing. "I don't know if I'd even have the chance, I think her mom would probably manage to put me out of my misery if something happened to Chelsea. With her specialty in Greek literature, she probably could concoct a poison that wouldn't be detected."

Rossi laughed with him. "I'll keep that in mind and make sure we do a full tox screen if you ever die under mysterious circumstances." Getting serious, he said "Look, we all know this job can be dangerous, but what happened to Hotch and his family is unusual. Most unsubs don't bring the fight to us. But you already know that. This isn't really what you wanted to talk about is it?"

"No, I wanted to ask you for help with the ring" he said with a shy smile.

Rossi smiled back. "You need help finding a reputable jewelry store that won't rip you off?"

"No, well yes, I could use a referral, but that's not my question." Pausing for a minute to collect his thoughts. "I want to propose WITH a ring, but I also want her to pick out what she would like. She is the one that will be wearing it, hopefully as long as she lives."

"You do know she would be happy with whatever ring you choose. Plus, you know her better than anyone and could make a very good guess to what she would like."

"I know, but I don't want to guess, even if it is a good guess. I really want her to help pick it out."

Thoughtfully, Rossi said, "What if you purchased a nice diamond and put it in on simple band. Then later you can both choose the setting and any other stones to complete a wedding set. That way you have a ring to propose with and let her know you want to select the bands in the style she chooses later."

Spencer looked excited, "That's a great idea. Thanks Rossi." He was quite for a few minutes thinking about the ring. "Can I ask you another favor?"

"Of course, what is it?" Rossi asked curiously, thinking he may have an idea where this is going.

"Can you help me find a jewelry store and take me there? I've been cleared to drive, but my Volvo is a manual transmission and I hate taking Chelsea's car and leaving her with mine. I'd rather not take the subway holding a diamond ring"

"That sounds like fun. I'd love to go with you to get the ring!" Rossi exclaimed. "Maybe it's time to look into a new vehicle also. It is going to be awhile before your left knee is strong enough for a clutch."

Spencer nodded and simply stated, "We've been talking about it. One of Bob's friends is interested in purchasing my car."

"Do you want to go check out rings today at lunch? I heard Morgan say he had a lunch date, we could leave after he does so you don't have to answer his questions when we leave together."

"That sounds great." Spencer said as he started to get up to leave.

Rossi stopped him, but saying "I'm glad you came in here this morning. I needed to talk to you about something else. Something not really as pleasant."

Spencer looked concerned and sat back down.

"Strauss received a call from Dr. Blaze this week" Rossi said seriously.

Spencer's head shot up with a panicked look. "She told you?"

After Rossi nodded, Spencer continued, "I'm not surprised he called. I figured it would be a matter of time after Chelsea told me how pissed he was when I was being transferred. I was in a lot of pain at the time, and I don't remember much about that conversation while I was on the gurney by the ambulance."

"It's going to be OK. You will have to submit to a random drug test," emphasizing the word random. "You know the bureau does that on occasion. Strauss told me she will set up tests for all of the BAU teams in the next few months so it won't look like anyone is being singled out."

"She'd do that? I've never thought she really liked me very much."

Rossi shook his head. "All she really cares about is that our team closes cases. Although she is worried about Hotch trying to take her job," pausing to come up with the correct wording, "she knows he would be really good at it and she is threatened by him. But, she would never let anyone from the outside try to bring us down."

Spencer nodded slowly, fiddling with his hands in his lap, thinking about what Rossi said.

Rossi continued, almost in a whisper, "Plus she understands what you are going through, more than you know."

Spencer's head snapped up, looking Rossi in the eyes. "What… she has…" he couldn't even finish his thought.

"No, not drugs, but she's has used a bottle as an escape more than a few times." Rossi was still talking softly as he continued. "We've know each other for many years and she's called me a few times to come and get her. Her husband walked out more than once and she's not handled that easily. She's received treatment a few times and I hope this last time it will stick."

"Does she know, I mean all about me?" Spencer asked turning the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"No. Not really. Dr. Blaze just told her that you were agitated about being sedated and even left his care changing doctors, saying that there obviously was a problem if you would leave in the middle of the night. She didn't ask me any specifics, just wanted to know if there was any problem she should know about."

Spencer looked slightly relieved as Rossi continued. "I told her that any past issue was not of your own doing and there is no issue now. I also let her know what an ass Dr. Blaze was because he felt that 48 hours on Morphine was necessary. That's why you left his care in the middle of that 48 hour period, not because of an ongoing issue. She seemed a bit shocked by that. Obviously Dr. Blaze neglected to mention his unusual prescription plan. Then she told me not to worry about it. She had to do some type of investigation because she had received a complaint."

Again Spencer nodded. "What does an investigation mean? Will it be put in my record?"

"No, nothing formal in your record as long as nothing is found. We both know that nothing will be found." He said confidently. "She decided to officially make sure that ALL BAU agents were not compromised in anyway. She also is going to do interviews with all BAU team leaders to make sure that everyone is doing their job and not at any risk." Before Spencer could comment on that, Rossi continues, "It's her job to look out for all of the teams and these oversight interviews are mandatory every couple years, so don't worry that everyone is under review, it would happen anyway. Even with Hotch's temporary stepping down from leader won't change the dynamics of this team and we will continue to close difficult cases. Morgan will not have any idea that the investigation is out of the ordinary. He will just get his first taste of Strauss' authority sooner than expected"

Spencer said thanks and started to get up to leave when Rossi got up and came around the desk and put his hand on his shoulder. "Spencer, this team is your family. We all have your back, in the field and at home."

Spencer smiled, "Thanks and thanks for your help with the ring."

"My pleasure, I'll come get you after I see Morgan leaving and we can go shopping" he said smiling. "He has been in a good mood ever since he started seeing the Barnes girl."

Spencer shook his head smiling. "Is there ANYTHING that gets past either you or Hotch? I don't think he wants us to know about his dating a witness."

Rossi laughed, "I think between Hotch and I, we usually know nearly everything going on around here. But as for Morgan dating a witness, the case goes to trial in the next few weeks and then he can probably be more open about it. I wonder if he really things he's pulling anything over on us?"


	5. Chapter 5

Spencer kept planning the best way to propose to Chelsea. He thought that the most meaningful place would be on the bench at the Rifle Club where they had spent hours talking and learning about each other the first weekend they met. Chelsea always called it "their bench" and Spencer couldn't think of a more fitting place to propose.

After the day of shopping with Rossi, he hid the ring in his gun lock box at home. He knew that Chelsea would not accidentally see it there and he felt it was safe locked up. His plan was beginning to come together. He no longer went to physical therapy for his knee, but continued to work on the range of motion with the exercises he had been taught. Because he wanted to propose in the old fashion way and get down on one knee, he carefully worked on bending his knees so when he was finally off the crutches he would propose.

Chelsea had always been a fan of Halloween, but never had met anyone that was as excited as Spencer was. He had plans for all weekend from attending scary movies to haunted houses. He had even found an old theater that hired a Vincent Price look-a-like to sit and pretend to be reading Edgar Allan Poe's works. Spencer had explained to Chelsea that Price had recorded dramatic readings of many of Poe's short stories and poems and that this theater was using the actual recordings as a voice over. It did give her goose bumps listening to the stories especially with Vincent Price's voice.

Several days later the team was called to Oklahoma City for a case that seemed to similar to some of the scary movies Chelsea had seen. The media had even gave the unsub a name like a bad horror movie, "The Eye Snatcher." Chelsea was sad that Spencer was called out of town, but she hoped he and the rest of the team could catch this guy before he killed anyone else.

Even before Spencer made it back home, Chelsea had seen the news about the arrest. She knew the team had caught the guy and they were on the way home, but she hadn't asked any details. From the news reports, the unsub had been using human eyes in the stuffed real animal skins he was working on. She had never had a problem with taxidermy in the past, many of her grandpa's friends were hunters and had stuffed deer heads in their dens, but she was never going to be able to look at one the same way again. The only good thing about the case was that the guy had been arrested and the people in Oklahoma would be able to sleep easier.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Thanks for reading. I know this is a short chapter, but I have 2 more chapters almost complete that I will be posting soon. :)


	6. Chapter 6

On Monday, November 10th, the team was called to Los Angeles on a murder case where the killer was mimicking a vampire. The same detective that they had worked with on the Lila Archer case was again the lead detective.

On the flight out to LA, JJ decided to tease Spencer about Lila, asking if he had talked to her recently. She knew, as did the rest of the team, that he had seen her the year before during her testimony in front of Congress regarding stalking. Spencer looked uncomfortable and tried to get everyone back on the case. All of the team knew about it now. Even though Rossi and Prentiss hadn't been on the team at the time of the case, when Lila had sent a thank you gift basket to the office for Reid's help, everyone talked about her. Even Chelsea knew about all of it after finding the tabloid during his move to her condo. Although everyone knew about it, he still was embarrassed and uncomfortable about JJ bringing it up; even if she was only teasing. Morgan came to his rescue, and started to talk about the case.

Spencer called Chelsea every night when he went to bed and usually texted her when they took a dinner break. Two days into the case around 1:00 in the afternoon DC time she received a text and was surprised and a bit nervous about receiving any message during a case. She smiled as she opened it. "What's Twilight?" was Spencer's question.

"A really, really bad book about vampires. I'm guessing someone brought it up because of your case?" She quickly texted back.

"Yeah. JJ looked surprised I didn't know what she was talking about. I'm I that out of touch?"

Chelsea quickly responded: "Don't worry about it. Twilight is the first of four books. Mostly teenage girls read them. They hit the NY Bestseller list, but not because they were well written."

"Thanks. I need to go to give the profile now. I'll call you tonight. I love you." He replied.

Chelsea smiled at the text and was looking forward to talking to him that night. Then she decided to send one more text. "BTW – If someone asks about 'Team Edward or Team Jacob' just ignore it. Trust me, Keep your mind on the unsub, don't get into that. LOL" was her reply.

"OK – I'm confused, but I trust you that I really don't want to hear an explanation." He pushed the send button as another text came in.

This time it was Morgan, "How's the profile coming?" he asked.

Before Spencer could reply, JJ took his phone and called Morgan saying, "Reid's done with the profile," handing the phone back to Spencer.

After talking to Morgan he noticed another text from Chelsea. "I'll explain all the Twilight stuff when you get home. Hurry up and catch the bad guy and be safe." He smiled as he thought about getting back home to her and prepared himself to give the profile.

All of the evidence had pointed to the main suspect Dante, AKA Paul Davies and because he was high most of the time, he wasn't able to give an alibi. When the DNA results from the crime scene came in, the team determined that the unsub was a female. Unfortunately, JJ had already left to interview her. The unsub was a female fan who was delusional and had been easily influenced by Dante's manager. Her desire to fulfill her delusions as a vampire fit the manager's desire to sell more of Dante's records. Paul Davies was innocent, but had enough decency to realize that his performance persona had helped cause the poor girl's delusions.

Spencer called Chelsea from the jet on the way home and told her about the case. She was surprised that the unsub had been a women, but mostly she was thankful that JJ was going to be OK.

Once he was back home, Chelsea started to ask a bunch of questions about the case. The whole vampire culture stuff was bizarre to her. She wanted to know if Dante's fans really thought they were vampires. Wondering if they really wanted to drink someone's blood. They discussed the entire case including the band and the culture. All of it was oddly fascinating to Chelsea. Prentiss had told Spencer on the way home, that when she explained what had happened to Paul Davies, he didn't want to portray that character any longer. He had been very upset that his music had an influence over the death of some of his fans and was going to change his stage name and his style. He was feeling some guilt because it was his manager that had done everything in his name and that he realized because he was too high most of the time to notice.

Chelsea explained the Team Edward vs. Team Jacob phenomenon to Spencer and he said he did overhear it a few times but followed her advice and ignored it. She also told him how Edward watching Bella while she slept had disturbed her when she originally read it, but after having a stalker herself, people fantasizing over that or finding it romantic really creeped her out.

Changing subject, "I'm truly a fan of the original Dracula type vampire, the horror version like Bram Stoker's. I really don't understand people trying to emulate that culture. There have been several books and movies that try and romanticize vampires, but I still don't get it."

Spencer really didn't have an answer for her. "Many times people drift to different social groups because of a common interest. They are looking for a human contact and friendship or many different reasons. Sometimes it's as simple as boredom or a way to socialize for someone that has a hard time making connections. Most of the same reasons people join clubs, but for some it is just a fun role-playing thing. There is usually no real threat, they don't really drink blood, but because of the nature of this fantasy a few very disturbed people used it to hurt others."

"Not something that would appeal to me," she said. "Anne Rice's version of vamps in _An Interview With A Vampire_ probably started that trend back in the 70s. Now Stephenie Meyer's version in the Twilight series gave them a teenage romantic feel. I guess some people like the version of vampires that are just lost or misunderstood. I really didn't like the series; the vampires were so different than how I picture them. In Twilight when the vamps are in sunlight they sparkle. Sparkle! I prefer my vampires to FRY in sunlight," she said laughing.

Looking confused Spencer asked, "Vampires sparkle? You mean their skin?"

"Yeah," she answered. "It doesn't really make sense to me either." Thoughtfully, she added, "I think you should read the Twilight series. My mom has the set of four books at house. The poor writing appalls her, but as a literary professor she tries to read most of the current fiction, especially things that are popular with high school and college students. You'd be surprised how often one of her students tries to compare some piece of Greek literature to a current best seller. My mom and I laugh over some of the conclusions they make, dozens have used the Twilight series."

Spencer was laughing also, "You both hate them, so why do you think I need to read them?"

Teasingly she added, "Think of it as a psychology experiment. It can't hurt to know what huge groups young girls are reading. Maybe sometime it will help you with a profile." She paused laughing. "Really, I know you will hate them, but it will probably take you about an hour to read all four books and my mom and I suffered through them, I think you should too."

"So, you want me to suffer because you and your mom did?" he asked confused.

"Kinda," she said smiling "but really, don't you think you should be up on some of the current trends? Wouldn't you be better at some of your profiles of young victims when you understand some of their current culture?"

He couldn't argue that point, but still was not really excited about having something like that forever burned into his memory. "Probably. I'm guessing you have other current literature, using the word loosely, you think I should read also?" he questioned.

"Not off the top of my head, but I bet my mom would love to have you suffer with her and could give you a long list of things her students read." She said still laughing, "Misery loves company! I should have thought of this while you were stuck home for a month with your knee."

"I think I'm glad you didn't," he said shaking his head. "But, I bet your mom and I could have some fun conversations picking apart the books." now smiling himself. He and Liz had many conversations about classic literature and had both recommended books to each other, but talking about some of the current trends with her could be interesting. He continued, "It also would be fun to shock the team when I know about something they thought would go over my head. Next time we are at your mom's; I'll grab a stack from her. Maybe I'll have her give me a list of things I should pick up at the library also."

"Sounds good," she watched as his expression changed and he looked sad. She smiled and grabbed him for a kiss.

Surprised, he asked, "What was that for? Not that I'm complaining"

"Mainly because you're cute and I missed you." She smiled and kissed him again. "But also because I think something else is on your mind."

"When did you become a profiler?" He asked with a small smile. Then hesitating for a brief time he decided to talk about what was bothering him. "I feel guilty about JJ getting hurt."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know the unsub was a female and you certainly would not have let her go on her own to a home if you thought it was dangerous."

"It's just…." pausing getting uncomfortable. "I should have figured it out earlier. I was kind of upset with JJ and now I wonder if that's why I didn't see it until after she went to see Gina."

"Spencer, you would never send any of your friends into harms way, no matter how upset you were with them."

"I know, I just feel like it's my fault she went. Maybe she knew I was upset and she thought getting out of my way would be good and that's why she went to see the witness by herself."

"JJ doesn't seem the type that would just go on a wild goose chase to keep away from you, annoyed or not. You can't blame yourself for a delusional sick girl."

"I know." He said sheepishly.

"Why were you upset with her?"

"She called Morgan and told him I was ready with the profile. I was doing it on my own and I didn't think I was ready yet."

"Was it ready?"

"Well…. yeah, but I didn't feel ready at that time."

"Then she just pushed you into doing what you knew was right, that can't be why you were upset with her." Trying to get to the real reason he felt guilty.

"No. it's something she said on the plane on the way to LA," pausing and looking at his hands that were folded in his lap.

When it seemed Spencer wasn't going to answer, Chelsea asked, "What did she say?"

"When we were going over the case on the way there, she noticed that the lead detective was Owen Kim. The same detective that we helped on the Lila Archer case. I had already seen that when I first looked at the file. I really liked him so I was happy working with him again. It's much better to have a detective that WANTS our help." He still couldn't look at her and his cheeks were getting pink. "JJ was just teasing me about if I had talked to Lila recently and if I had told you about the kiss. I know she didn't mean any harm, but I was just really uncomfortable with everyone looking at me. Morgan saved me and told them that you knew all about Lila and changed the conversation back to the case at hand. I tried to forget about it, but when she seemed shocked I didn't know about Twilight then called Morgan with my phone to tell him I had finished the profile without discussing it with me, I was happy she left the prescient."

"Spence, you didn't know she was headed into danger. You know she didn't mean to hurt your feelings, she was just teasing, but you have the right to feel hurt. Wanting her out of your sight for a few hours is not the same as not caring about her."

He looked up for the first time since the conversation started. She smiled at him and asked if he felt better. "Yes, thank you." He said taking her hands in his. "It really does feel better to talk about it. I've never really had anyone I could vent to before you came into my life. People have always looked at me strangely, like what I felt wasn't important. I know I have always been different, like I was on the outside looking in, but you make me feel like I matter. No one has ever done that before. Thank you." Before she could answer, his arms brought her to him, bringing her into a slow, tender kiss and all he could think about was how much he wanted to make her his wife.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I have tried to keep my Spencer/Chelsea series true to the CM on-air universe. I just am adding my thoughts of what happens off air between the shows. A lot of the conversation regarding Lila in this chapter is based on my Oneshot _Home At Last_ when Chelsea finds the Hollywood Tabloid with Spencer and Lila on the cover.


	7. Chapter 7

While the team had been in LA for the Dante case, Spencer had seen notices in the station for a seminar by Professor James Fallon at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) regarding his research of the physical differences in the brains of sociopaths. He was optimistic that in the future it could be a predictor in finding criminals before they kill.

Spencer talked to Rossi and he worked out arrangements through Strauss for the Bureau to pay for his trip. The research could be helpful for all BAU teams and with Reid's retention abilities, he was the obvious choice to attend.

For just the cost of Chelsea's airfare, Spencer and Chelsea were able to take a quick weekend trip to California. While Spencer attended the all-day Saturday seminar, Chelsea took the rental car and spent the day a few miles away Christmas shopping at the 4th largest mall in the US, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. They had a romantic dinner at an Orange County restaurant that over looked the city lights and spent Sunday walking around Laguna Beach holding hands and enjoying each others company. The sun was shining and the temperature during the day was in the mid-60s. Even though Spencer had to spend one full day working, it was a wonderful weekend getaway.

They took the red-eye back to Dulles International arriving early Monday morning. The team had just received a new local case and Chelsea dropped Spencer off directly at the crime scene. He was the first to arrive and had already started a profile when the rest of the team and Virginia State Police Field Agent Anne Hudson arrived.

The unsub was killing the families of military men that were stationed overseas. Garcia called to let them know that Karl Arnold, AKA _The Fox_, a Family Annihilator who they had captured four years ago was receiving tips about this case. He was currently serving a life sentence in the Virginia Red Onion Supermax Prison and someone had been mailing him letters with information about the current murders. Hotch had testified at _The Fox's_ trial and he and Prentiss went to see the letters he had received as well as to see if he had any other information that could help with the current case.

While they were starting to work on the profile, the family of another military man was murdered. This time the cooling off period was just 3 days. It was a huge exultation considering the prior murders were a year ago. The team figures out that a military air show is the stresser for the killings. They also realize the grave sites resemble mass graves during times of war and that most of the attention is given to the female 14 year old female victims. They arrive at the conclusion the unsub is most likely a female psychopath in her late 20s, and born in Bosnia. With this specifics of the new profile, Garcia is able to track down the unsub, Miranda Jafar, and her home address. The team with the State Police plan a raid of the premises.

Spencer had a doctor appointment scheduled for an evaluation in the late afternoon. He had been waiting for doctor to clear him to use cane instead of crutches before he proposed. He thought that a dinner at the Rifle Club to celebrate the next step in his knee recovery would be a great excuse to take Chelsea out to propose without her becoming suspicious.

He was afraid he was going to have to reschedule the appointment as they continued to chase the unsub. With Spencer still on crutches and unable to help on the raid, Rossi told him to go ahead to his doctor's appointment. "You would be sitting at the station waiting to find out if we catch her. I can text you and keep you posted just as easy at the doctor's. If after the raid we don't apprehend her, you can come back after the appointment to help with a new geographical profile to find her."

Spencer didn't look convinced, but Rossi continued. "Go. Get your knee taken care of. If you reschedule, the next time you could be on the other side of the country. You can't help with the raid with the crutches. We need you to heal." Then he said more forcefully but still smiling, "GO!"

Spencer thanked him and caught a cab to his DC doctor's office arriving 15 minutes early. After the appointment, Spencer called Rossi to let him know that everything had gone well and he no longer needed the crutches.

Rossi updated him on the case, telling him that Miranda was not at home, but they had found evidence of the next victim. When they arrived, they were able to save the family, but Morgan had to shoot Miranda in self-defense and she died on the scene.

Rossi knew that Spencer had planned to take Chelsea out to celebrate after the appointment. He was also the only person that knew about Spencer' plan to propose and wanted to help him anyway he could. "There is nothing you can do here tonight. Go ahead and make the dinner reservations. I'll fill out your paperwork and you can sign it later. Don't worry, Morgan is going to have hours of paperwork to finish as the lead on this case and even extra because of the discharged weapon and death of the suspect. He won't even be able to come up for air until late tonight. If you are missed, I'll make excuses for you. Go ask that beautiful girl to marry you!"

"Thanks." Spencer said quietly. He was grateful for the older man's help.

Rossi continued with a smile in his voice, "You don't need to be nervous. You know she's going to say yes."

Spencer smiled also. "I know. Well I think I know she will. But I'm still nervous."

"Have fun and turn off your phone. Miranda is dead and no one else is in danger. If another case comes up, we won't be able to do anything until morning anyway. You shouldn't have to propose worrying that your phone will ring."

"Are you sure? I'd appreciate that, one less thing to be nervous about, but I don't want to leave you all a man down if a case comes in."

"Yes, I'm sure. We probably won't be called, we are still processing too much from this case. If something comes in and we have to be on the jet tonight, I'll call Chelsea. She will have her phone with her. OK?"

"Yeah. You're probably right and I won't have to worry if anyone else calls, if it's bad you can still reach me. Thanks. That makes me feel better."

Rossi smiled at the young genius' nervousness. "When she says yes, congratulate her for me."

#

Spencer and Chelsea drove in Spencer's new car to the Rifle Club with his cane, "Herbert," in the back seat. Knowing how often he rambles and spouts facts when he is nervous, Spencer preplanned many topics to keep the conversation casual. Most of the drive to dinner they talked about plans to sell Spencer's car to Bob's friend now that he had new transportation.

During dinner, he continued to make a conscious effort to stay calm and keep to his planned topics. He had read a few books her mom had suggested and kept the conversation flowing the entire dinner about the books with a little about the case they had just closed.

When dinner was over he suggested a short walk. The night was cold but clear. Holding her hand in one of his with the cane in the other, they headed towards their bench, Spencer told her about the doctor's appointment and the doctor's thoughts on his recovery progress. He was getting more and more nervous as they approached the bench, but kept his mind on his knee process to keep from sounding nervous. He didn't want her to figure out that he was nervous and ask any questions.

"The doctor said, if I keep up my exercises, he thinks that I will be cane free by early January."

She smiled, squeezing his hand, "I'm proud of you keeping up the rehab and doing what the doctors have suggested. I'm glad that the pain is almost gone also."

As they reached the beach he said "Thanks." slightly embarrassed by the complement. "I'm starting to feel like I'm getting back to normal. Well at least normal for me," he finished with a smile.

Spencer pulled off his gloves and dried of the bench for them to sit down. As he put the gloves in the pocket of his coat, he slipped the ring on his pinky finger to have it ready. He reached up and cupped her face with one hand, rubbing his thumb gently across her cheek bone and gave her a gentle kiss. "I want to hold your hands, touch your skin," he said as he moved to help her remove her gloves.

She looked down and smiled as they removed her gloves. She was hoping there was reason for him wanting her hands free, but she wasn't sure and started getting nervous.

They were sitting facing each other with their knees touching and their hands linked in her lap. Spenser started talking almost in a whisper getting her attention and looking her directly in the eyes. "Chelsea, I love you." His voice became stronger. "I've always been different, I was too young, too smart, or too" he paused, "something to fit in. You never treated me like I was different, you make me feel normal, even on our first date. You are my best friend, you have changed my whole world, you ARE my whole world. I do not know if you'll ever understand how much I love you."

Then he slowly moved to kneel on his good knee. Her eyes grew wide and she couldn't contain her smile.

Still holding both of her hands, he asked, "Chelsea, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

She had tears in her eyes as she tried to find her voice. Spencer waited in fear until she said, "Yes. Yes, I love you and I want to marry you." She wrapped her arms around his neck trying not to throw him off balance with his bad knee.

He smiled, loosening her arms from his neck and pulling himself back up to sit on the bench to kiss her. Looking down he whispered, "I'm glad you said yes, it would have been a bit awkward if you hadn't."

She looked at him confused as he lifted her left hand up to show her the ring that he had slipped on her finger without her knowing.

He laughed at the shocked look on her face. She couldn't complete a sentence or a thought. "How?" Looking at her finger. "When?" Then smiling she hugged him again saying, "My beautiful magic man!" and kissed him again.


	8. Chapter 8

During the drive back home there was a comfortable silence. Both happy in their own thoughts. Chelsea spent most of the ride smiling and staring at the ring on her finger.

When they arrived home, Spencer turned on his phone, there was a text from Rossi. _New info on The Reaper. Meet at the office 7:30am._

Spencer sighed when he read the text.

Chelsea asked, "Do you have to go now?" He could hear the sadness with a touch of panic in her voice.

"No. I have to be in the office at 7:30 in the morning. Something about The Reaper. I don't know anything else yet and I don't care. I want to spend tonight with you without thinking about work." Pulling her into his arms.

Chelsea looked alarmed, "The Reaper? He's back?"

"I don't know, Rossi's text just said new info. But make me a promise." Now sounding concerned himself.

"Of course," she answered. "Anything."

"Please don't go anywhere tomorrow until you hear from me, not even for a run. The Reaper is unpredictable and I'll feel a lot better knowing you're safe here and not worrying about you."

"I promise. I have some work I can do here and of course I'll be on the phone telling all my friends about this!" pointing to her newly ringed finger.

#

The next morning, Spencer was at his desk just after 7:00am. Even with the prospect of The Reaper back in their lives, he couldn't help smiling about the night before. As everyone trickled in, Morgan asked, "Where'd you run off to yesterday pretty boy?" ruffling his hair.

Spencer was still smiling as he swatted his friend's hand away. "I had a doctor's appointment. I'm now cleared to walk with a cane and Chelsea and I went out to celebrate."

He was saved from having to say anything more when JJ and Hotch headed towards the conference room asking everyone to follow. Hotch showed the newspaper clippings that The Reaper had mailed to Karl Arnold, _The Fox_. "Foyet inserted himself in our last case. That means he has been keeping tabs on me or all of us for at least this past week. Probably more."

Reid asked, "Do you think he's still in the DC area?"

"Probably, the news clippings were mailed from Fredericksburg Virginia and Westminster Maryland. I believe he is within driving distance to be able to know what case we we're working on and get these news articles into Karl Arnold's hands." Hotch continued, "He told me when he called me back in Boston that 'if I stop hunting _him_, he would stop hunting _them_.' I told him I don't make deals, I hunt guys like you. Now he's letting me know he's still out there and he's going to kill again. He wants me to know it's my fault."

"It's not your fault. He's trying to get under your skin." Rossi said. "He wants to upset you and force you make you make a mistake."

Hotch nodded, "I've known he was watching me, that's part of the reason I stepped down, so he'd think I was falling apart. My guess is he's been here watching for a long time. Waiting for the perfect case to get my attention. He's done his research and knew about The Fox and when someone started killing families locally, it was the perfect opportunity for him to contact me through Arnold."

He turned to JJ, "JJ tell them what you figured out and what Garcia and Kevin are currently searching."

JJ explained how she figured out that Foyet was most likely using many over the counter drugs and that both Garcia and Kevin were searching databases for drugs that could not be substituted and looking for any purchases in the area.

Foyet was now an active BAU case again. Spencer and Chelsea decided to wait to tell everyone they were engaged until either Foyet had been apprehended or the trail had run cold, preferably the former. They wanted to share their news during a happy time, not while a psychopath was actively hunting Hotch and maybe the whole team.


	9. Chapter 9

When everyone left the conference room to try and find any lead they could on Foyet, Rossi came up to Reid. "So?" he asked, "I'm sure she said yes, right?"

Even with the threat of the Reaper back in the area, Reid couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, it went exactly as planned and she gave me the answer I was hoping for."

"I'm sorry about the text, but you needed to know to come in early today." Rossi said sounding sincerely sorry. "Did the news put a damper on the evening?"

"Not really. Of course she was sad I had to leave early and seemed a bit nervous with the prospect of our team on Foyet's radar. I asked her to stay at home today. I don't really think that either of us is his target, but I didn't want to take any chances." He paused and then said, "For a minute when I was reading the text she thought I was going to have to leave right then. I could see it in her eyes, but I know she would never ask me not to go."

Rossi nodded, "She has the heart of an agent. She doesn't want this job herself, but she could never tell you not to go on a case. Just like we could never not go when we get the call. It's in our blood, it's a part of who we are. We get the call that someone is in danger and knowing we can help, we have to go. She has that same heart and understands. She wouldn't ask you not to go."

Thoughtfully Reid answered, "I've only seen her extremely upset one time. The morning after the pig farm. She didn't ask me not to go, she even got up to make me breakfast and coffee, but it was clear she didn't want me to go that day. Maybe I should have listened to her and called in sick, it would have saved me from getting shot."

Rossi shock his head, "No if you hadn't shown up that day, Dr. Barton probably would be dead. And even in hindsight with your knee, neither of you would make that trade."

"Your right. I just hope we can catch Foyet before anyone else gets hurt."

Just as they finished their conversation, Garcia went running back into the conference room calling for everyone to follow her.

With the new lead on the prescription, Reid was able to unscramble the anagram of his self-given name, _The Reaper_, and locate _Peter Rhea's_ apartment from the pharmacy's files. Unfortunately, Foyet was a step ahead of them and already had tricked Hailey into returning to Hotch and her family home. Hotch was able to kill Foyet and save Jack, but not before Foyet had murdered Hailey.

#

During the aftermath of the case, Hotch was hugging Jack and telling him what a good job he had done _working the case_. Soon after that JJ took Jack to keep him company and calm while Hotch was cleaned up and looked over by the EMTs. The CSI unit started doing their job, Morgan was handling the local cops, and Rossi dealing with Strauss. Spencer took the opportunity to call Chelsea and tell her what had happened. He didn't go over specifics, but when he heard her quivering voice his tears threatened to fall. Between the team still being in shock and trying to stay strong for Hotch and Jack the tears hadn't fallen. Talking to Chelsea he had a hard time keeping them in check.

When he finally got home he grabbed and held Chelsea tight. The reality of what had happened to Hotch was sinking in and he couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to her. Chelsea understood how upset he was and just let him hold her as long as he needed. After nearly 15 minutes, he pulled back and sat on the couch seeming nearly defeated. Chelsea poured them both a glass of brandy and joined him. Spencer had a hard time talking at first, but they both knew he needed to express what he was feeling.

Although he had told Chelsea on the phone about what had happened to Hailey, he now told her the details of what had actually happened and how he was feeling during the day. He seemed miles away almost talking to himself staring into his glass. After he finished, he put down his glass and with his arm around her waist pulled her close to face him. "I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you."

Chelsea cuddled close to him while keeping her eyes on his. "You know that is not going to happen to me. I'm way too cynical to fall for an unsub rouse. Hailey was very trusting and from what both Hotch and Dave have said, that was part of her charm. I'm not Hailey and you know I live by the_ 'trust but verify_' rule."

Spencer nodded and swallowed hard to keep his tears away as she continued, "Remember during your knee surgery when Dr. Barton came to visit me in the waiting room? I had seen photos of Foyet before, I knew what he looked like. But when someone showed up I was nervous, maybe even a little paranoid that I didn't remember, so I sent his photo to Dave before I would talk to him. And when you asked me not to go out today, I stayed home."

Spencer seemed to be relaxing a bit but was still holding her close not wanting to release her. "You also know I was never afraid for my safety when my ex, Russ was stalking me, but I still never allowed myself to be alone and was hyper vigilant of my surroundings. I know that there are some things I can't control, but both grandpa and John taught me well, I'm not easy to fool. You can't spend time worrying about me on a case at the cost of maybe getting yourself or your team hurt."

He again nodded, understanding that everything she said was true, but so shaken by everything that had happened he couldn't process everything yet. He looked down and took her hands, noticing for the first time since he arrived home that she was not wearing her engagement ring. He looked up with wide eyes but before he could say anything she quickly blurted out, "I still want to marry you."

She understood that he was afraid that the events of the day had made her change her mind about marrying him. When her statement seemed to sink in, she continued realizing he still looked worried. "With everything that happened today, I thought it best if I took it off until we tell the team. We discussed not telling them until you had cleared up the Foyet case, but with Hailey's death I still don't think we should tell them yet. I want to tell them all when they can all celebrate with us, not when everyone is so sad. I know we will be seeing the team this week and at Hailey's funeral, whenever that is, so I took it off."

When he seemed to understand and looked sad not worried any longer, she continued. "Also, I started thinking this morning after you left that with Foyet in the area it wasn't a good idea to call my friends or post it on my Facebook page." When he looked surprised she told him, "You wanted me to stay inside today so I realized that you were afraid he might come after me to get to you. I figured that if you were afraid about that, telling the world we were engaged would also tell HIM we were engaged and could make me a target, even if I wasn't already." She then smiled saying, "I told you I'm slightly paranoid."

He smiled back and kissed her. "I feel better knowing that you are that careful, but I am sorry that you can't wear your ring or tell people about it."

"I know, I did call and tell my mom and grandpa, although they already knew it was coming." She said with a smile. "I want to shout it out to everyone, but not until Hailey is laid to rest and the team has finalized all the paperwork. I can imagine that there will be lots of internal investigations with the way that everything happened."

Spencer nodded his agreement, although neither of them had a clue of the witch hunt that Strauss was about to begin regarding Hotch's and the team's actions.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading. I have another chapter nearly done and I will post it soon.


	10. Chapter 10

A week had passed since Hailey had been killed. The team had undergone what the Bureau called debriefings, but it seemed more like the FBI was looking for a scape goat and wanted to point the blame at Hotch for the entire Reaper case. Fortunately, the day before the funeral, Strass had deemed the whole incident, as she called it, righteous, and cleared Hotch and the entire team of any wrong doing.

The funeral was beautiful and touching. Everyone had tears in their eyes, but so many tears had fallen in the past week, everyone seemed almost cried out. They wanted to stay strong and support both Hotch and Jack.

As the team and their significant others sat around a table that afternoon, Chelsea reminisced, "I wish I had more time to get to know her before she and Jack were sent away in protective custody. She seemed like a nice lady and a wonderful mom."

Morgan was curious, "When did you met Hailey?"

"I first met her for just a few minutes last May when she brought Jack to Rossi's house for the team barbeque. Spencer was still on sick leave and Hotch, Spence and I were the first ones there."

Morgan nodded, "It sounds like you met her another time?"

JJ spoke up, "It's the day our plane was grounded in Memphis. You babysat Jack that night."

This time Chelsea nodded. "It was several weeks after Spencer had been back to work and you finished the case in Tennessee. I remember your flight was scheduled to leave at 10:00am and that would have Hotch home in time to pick up Jack before Hailey and her sister had a commuter flight to Manhattan."

JJ continued the story, "I remember Hailey had given the night off to her regular sitter because Hotch had called the night before and said we were wrapping up and would be leaving Memphis in the late morning. He would have been home in plenty of time. Then there was a problem with the jet communications system and they wouldn't let us take off until they found a new part and it was repaired."

Morgan signed, "I remember that flight, I had a hot date that night I had to cancel. We didn't get in until almost 9:00pm. All over a stupid radio."

Chelsea laughed, "I think you might be happy that your flight crew can communicate with the towers for takeoff and landing."

"Hotch had to call Hailey to tell her that bad news," JJ continued. "Hailey was livid. She and Jessica had Broadway musical tickets, hotel and dinner reservations and non-refundable airfare. I remember Hotch trying to explain that it wasn't his fault. The FAA was keeping us grounded. He really did want to see Jack. Before he hung up, I suggested having Chelsea babysit."

"I don't think she really liked the idea at first," Chelsea conceded. "She didn't know me well and although she liked Spencer, I don't think she would have left Jack with him. I think she still saw Spencer as the kid who started in the BAU at 24 without a lot of social skills."

"He still lacks social skills." Morgan chimed in. Chelsea just glared at him and Morgan turned away.

"Anyway," Chelsea continued still glaring at Morgan, "She was desperate, but not desperate enough to leave Jack with someone she didn't really know."

JJ smiled, "I made Hotch give me the phone. I told her what a great person Chelsea was and that she and Spencer had babysat Henry before. Convincing her that if she could take care of an infant she could watch an almost 4 year old."

Nodding, Chelsea filled in the rest of the story. "After talking to Hotch, she said she would think about it and Spencer called to tell me what was going on. I understood her reluctance and said if she wanted me to sit with Jack I'd be happy to, but I wouldn't be upset if she decided not to." Smiling about the memory, "I don't know if it was Hotch or JJ that convinced her to call, but around 1:00 that afternoon, she did call me. Her flight was at 5:00 that night. I suggested she and Jack come over around 2:00 and sit down and talk for a while. If she didn't think my apartment was child safe or she still didn't know me well enough, she could then cancel, she didn't have anything to lose. She stayed for about an hour and we had a very nice chat. Jack stayed, we had sandwiches from the deli for dinner and we made cookies for desert. We drew pictures and played a few card games. He was asleep in my guest room by the time Spencer and Hotch got there at 9:00pm."

Prentiss looked surprised, "I'm surprised I never heard about that."

Chelsea shrugged, "It wasn't a big deal, although now I wish I had time to get to know her better. I'll have to remind Hotch about that and tell him if he ever needs a last minute sitter, he can call me. I don't know if he's even thought about what he's going to do, but if he does go back to work, Spencer will be gone the same time he is and I would be happy to help."

Morgan was about to reply when his phone rang. He came back to the table shaking his head. "We've got a case."

The whole table was in shock. How could they call in the team hours after Hailey's funeral? Morgan continues, "All of the other teams are on cases and it's time sensitive."

Will who was holding JJ's hand spoke up for the first time, "Aren't they all?"

Everyone nodded as Morgan headed over to let Rossi know about the case. He had been on the patio talking to Hotch.

As the team, minus Hotch, headed towards the door, JJ kissed Will goodbye, Garcia and Kevin said their goodbyes, and Spencer turned to Chelsea saying, "I'm sorry. We really shouldn't have to go, not today. I thought this week after the funeral would be the perfect time to give them all the good news."

Sighing, she hugged him and whispered, "Spence, there is never a good time for a serial killer. I think I've figured that out. I want to tell them all about the engagement, but you know we need to get past the funeral first. Don't worry about me. Just catch the bad guy and come home safe, OK?"

Spencer smiled and kissed her goodbye. He held her left hand where the engagement ring should have been sparkling on her finger. "I will. I hate that you can't wear your ring yet."

"Me too. But everyone needs to process this before we tell them." She said sadly as Spencer pulled the car keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. "I think I'll stay a while and see if they need any help cleaning up. I'd like to talk to Jessica also. I noticed that she recognized my name when I was introduced. Probably from the story I just told, but I'd still like to give her my condolences." Spencer nodded gave her hand another squeeze and headed out with the rest of his team.


	11. Chapter 11

On the plane back from Nashville after saving the last victim from the stalker, everyone was relieved to be going home. It had been a difficult few weeks for the team. Even though it was only noon Eastern Time, the entire team was exhausted. Morgan was leaning back with his headphones listening to music and trying to sleep. JJ and Prentiss were sitting across from each other in quiet conversation and Reid was playing cards with Rossi.

Reid kept looking at his watch between hands so Rossi spoke up, "Anxious to get home, kid?"

"Of course, isn't everyone?" Reid answered confused by the question.

"Sure, but everyone isn't looking at their watch every five minutes" he said nodding towards Reid's arm.

"Oh, I didn't even realize I was doing that." He said quietly. "Chelsea went to New York to visit her friend Joann while we were gone. I think she mainly wanted to get away from all of the sadness but she also wanted to tell her the news in person."

Rossi only nodded and Reid continued, "Her flight is scheduled to land at Dulles soon so I'm trying give her time to get out of the airport before I call." Almost talking to himself he said, "I wish I could have been there to pick her up."

"She knows that." Rossi commented and laughed when Reid seemed surprised he had spoken the last words out loud. Continuing he said "When are you going to tell the team?"

"I was hoping tonight, if Chelsea and everyone here feels up to going out." He said looking around at everyone in the plane.

Just then his phone rang and his face lit up. Rossi smiled and said, "I think I'll go refresh my coffee and give you some privacy."

Reid nodded his thanks and answered his phone with a smile. "Hey, how was your trip."

When Rossi returned, Reid was smiling. "So, she's up for a night out?" he asked.

"Actually, she wants to have everyone over to our place. She thought it might be more relaxing for everyone than going out. She plans to ask Frank if he can pull something together sort notice, but if not we can always order something to be delivered"

"That sounds good, as long as she's up to it." Seeing an affirming nod from Reid he said "Why don't we go talk to JJ and Prentiss now and we can ask Morgan when he wakes up. I bet everyone will like the thought of getting together not involving a serial killer. Plus if Frank can make the dinner, no one will want to miss that!" He said remembering the last time he made dinner for the group.

When they landed a couple of hours later, Spencer couldn't wait to get home. The first thing he noticed as that Chelsea was wearing her ring. Smiling he grabbed her hand, kissed her knuckles and then pulled her in for a kiss. They kissed until the need for air became too great.

After catching her breath, Chelsea saw Spencer's mind racing and asked, "What are you thinking?"

Spencer looked confused, "I really don't know. My mind's gone completely blank."

She laughed feeling the same reaction from the kiss. She kissed him again, this time only lightly brushing her lips against his. "Let's get your bag to the bedroom."

He smiled a goofy grin and nodded while grabbing his bag to follow her.

#

Several hours later, they had both showered, made the bed, emptied his go bag and were setting the table for the dinner. Chelsea showed him the champagne that Rossi had ordered and had delivered in the refrigerator saying, "It was nice of David to send this. I got a call from the security desk downstairs about the delivery only an hour after I got home. He certainly has some good resources in the city."

"Wow, he didn't tell me he was going to do this. He must have called right after we invited everyone. By the way, Will and Kevin are definitely coming, I meant to tell you when I got home, but I got distracted," he said as a slight blush touched his cheeks.

"I added them to the count for Frank just in case. I'm happy he was able to make us dinner on such short notice. I stopped at the deli before I even came upstairs to see if he could do it. And when I told him about this," she said pointing to her ring, "he came around the counter and picked me up off my feet," smiling as she thought of the memory. "I bet he is planning something special, even though I didn't give him much time. I also called and told him about the champagne after the delivery, just in case he was planning that also."

Then changing the subject, "Grandpa is coming. I also counted, Hotch and Jack, hoping they will all be here too. Have you heard anything about how he's doing?"

"I don't know how he's doing, but I just received a text from Rossi. He went to see Hotch when we got back and he agreed to come, but Jack is with his aunt tonight." When Chelsea looked disappointed, he continued, "I haven't talked to anyone, but my guess is he plans to tell us his decision on if he is coming back to work or not and doesn't want Jack to hear the details."

"That makes sense, do you know his decision?"

"No. I guess we will find out soon enough."

#

Spencer was anxious as everyone arrived. He didn't want to spoil the surprise before they all showed up. He noticed that Chelsea managed to keep her ring hand hidden and mostly kept herself busy in the kitchen sorting through the array of Italian dishes Frank had delivered just before the team started to arrive. He smiled thinking about their big announcement and knew she was afraid a room full of profilers might figure out the secret before they had a chance to tell them. Fortunately, the appetizers that Frank and made kept the group happy and entertained in the family area.

Hotch was the last to arrive. Once he was there, Spencer took the opportunity to call Chelsea out of the kitchen and make the announcement. Before Spencer could even finish his announcement, Garcia was screaming and jumping up to grab both of them in a huge hug. She continued to squeal and bounce up and down until Morgan came and put a hand on her shoulder laughing, "Come on baby girl, you don't want to break either of their necks."

"Oh, oh I'm sorry. I just am so excited for both of you." She continued bouncing as she let them go.

"It's alright" both Spencer and Chelsea said together laughing. Before they had a chance to say anything else they were both engulfed in hugs from everyone in the room. They were all excited to look at her beautiful diamond engagement ring, she sometimes felt like her arm was going to be pulled off. Emily noticed the odd angle her arm was at and said "Hey guys," trying to get their attention, then again louder, "Hey guys!" everyone stopped and looked at her. "Can Chelsea have her arm back?" Everyone laughed when they realized what they were doing and let go Chelsea's arm.

Now that things had quieted down a bit, Chelsea reminded Spencer about the Champagne and he grabbed Morgan, Rossi and Will to help open the bottles and pour glasses.

Once everyone had a glass in their hands, Hotch got everyone's attention and lifted his glass in the first toast. Once Rossi and Morgan added their heartfelt toasts, Spencer then lifted his glass saying, "Chelsea I love you and I plan on spending the rest of my life doing everything I can to make you as happy as you make me."

Chelsea could feel the tears that threatened to fall and grabbed him in a hug. She almost forgot everyone was there until she heard all of the "aaawws" from the group. Looking around she noticed she wasn't the only one with tears in her eyes. With everyone's attention on them she decided to announce it was time to eat.

Sitting down at the dinner table Chelsea couldn't keep the huge smile off her face. Looking over at Spencer in a conversation with JJ and Will, she could see her smile mirrored on his face. Engaged, she thought to herself, she was now officially engaged. It seemed more real now that the team knew. She knew within weeks of meeting Spencer she wanted this but she never really imagined this a day would come. He tended to be a very private person and she was amazed at the toast he had given just minutes before.

Her grandpa that was sitting next to her, interrupted her thoughts when he whispered, "you look deep in thought."

"I'm just happy and loving that everyone is here to celebrate our engagement."

"He really has opened up this year. It's hard for me to believe the kid I met last year is the same one that gave that toast," he continued smiling. "I'm happy for both of you."

"I really am glad you kept bugging him to ask me out. I think you have some sort of a sixth sense to know we would be good for each other," she said as she gave him a hug.

"I'm happy I did too. I don't think I'm physic but I did imagine you this happy with him. Your dad would have loved him also."

Chelsea swallowed holding back tears thinking about her dad just as Morgan spoke up. "Spencer, tell us how you proposed. I bet everyone here would love to hear the story."

Spencer looked at Chelsea who nodded her approval and he told the story. He started by mentioning that he had been thinking about it since the day he introduced her to the team, but after he was shot, he wanted to wait until he was off his crutches and could get down on one knee.

Garcia interrupted with "aww, you always have been the perfect gentleman."

Spencer blushed more and said "Thanks" as he continued the story and explained why he had proposed at the Rifle Club.

"You really are a romantic." Morgan said when he was finished.

Chelsea leaned over giving Spencer a quick kiss saying, "You have NO idea."

Everyone laughed as Spencer once again blushed a deep read.

Rossi saw that Spencer looked a bit overwhelmed with all of the attention and took pity on him by changing the subject. "Hotch, have you made any decisions about work yet?" although he already knew the answer.

Hotch cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, I told Strauss this morning I plan to come back. I have my final psych eval tomorrow and should be back at my desk on Monday."

When dinner was over and everyone had moved around the condo into small groups for conversation Garcia gabbed Chelsea in another huge hug nearly crying, "I'm sorry one of our sickos ruined the moment for you."

Chelsea sighed, "Not ruined. Just delayed." Looking over at Hotch with the group of guys who were talking with Spencer, "I just wish there was a different outcome" she said trailing off.

JJ smiled and hugged her, "Don't let those thoughts ruin your happiness. Hotch is really happy for Spence, just look at them all over there. They look like a group of gossiping women! We needed some good news like this. I'm really happy for you, both of you."

Chelsea said thanks and JJ left the girls to join the guys. When there was a lull in the conversation, JJ pulled Reid aside to give him a big hug. "Do you know you have been blushing the whole night?"

His face blushed even deeper with her words looking down at his Converse. "I'm not really good at being the center of attention." He answered truthfully.

Smiling she hugged him again. "Well you're going to have to get used to it. Everyone will be looking at both of you at the wedding." Pulling away she looked and continued seriously, "I'm so proud of you. I'm glad you figured out that she wasn't going anywhere without you by her side. She loves you very much."

Smiling with another blush, "I know. I can't imagine my life without her."

#

As everyone was getting ready to leave for the night, Chelsea pulled Hotch aside, "Hotch, I'm really glad you decided to stay with the BAU. I feel safer knowing your whole team is together. I know that you will all do whatever it takes to get the unsub, but you all take care of each other like family."

"I don't think I am me without this job. I really can't walk away from it. Hailey understood that, but couldn't live with that knowledge. I don't think Jessica really likes it either, but she also understands that this job is a part of me and wanted to offer Jack some stability. He needs that and I'm very grateful for her help." Hotch said thoughtfully.

"That's partly what I wanted to talk to you about. Remember that Hailey allowed me to watch Jack before so I'm sure Jessica would approve also. If she is ever busy and can't get Jack when you get a call to leave town, or she needs help when you are gone for a long time, I want to help. If your gone, Spencer's gone also, so I definitely can make time to spend it with Jack."

"Thanks. I'll let her know you offered. I'm sure she will welcome the help if needed." Then hugging her he continued with his voice full of emotion, "I really do appreciate it and I'm sure Hailey would also. Thank you."

"No problem Hotch, he is a sweet boy and when Spence is gone, I could use the distraction also." She said smiling.

#

On the way out, Rossi was in the elevator with Hotch and said nonchalantly. "I noticed you and Bob having a nice conversation."

"Dave, you know I don't have an issue with alcohol."

"I know, but I think talking to someone that has gone through some similar things as you would be a good idea. That's all I'm saying."

Hotch nodded, "He's easy to talk to and I don't want the bureau, or especially Strauss second guessing my decision to return. If I pass bm eval tomorrow…"

Rossi cut him off laughing, "There isn't a profiler that can't walk that line and pass the Bureau's psych eval and you know it. If one of us didn't pass, I'm sure I wouldn't want them having my back."

Hotch smiled, "Yeah, most of us helped write the questions and getting back in the saddle is our best therapy. But, sometimes it is good to just talk to someone that has been there without trying to analyze if you are fit for duty. You know?"

"Yeah, you know my door's always open if you want to talk, but I'm glad you had a chance to talk to Bob. He's a good man. Plus everything is private, I know he has talked to lots of people in similar situations to yours. He's probably happy to talk to someone before they let an addition take over their lives. Not that I'm suggesting that you will." Rossi finished squeezing Hotch's shoulder.

"We are going to lunch next week. A more private time to just chat about things." Hotch then changed the subject, "I'm so glad that Spencer proposed to Chelsea. She really is good for him. But I'm sorry that my personal life interfered with their happiness and they had to wait so long to tell us."

"It wasn't your personal life, it was Foyet that interfered. Don't put that on you. Spencer didn't want Chelsea on Foyet's radar with a public announcement, then there was the funeral and then the stalking case," he paused shaking his head. "The timing to tell us was never right."

"You knew didn't you?" Hotch said with a smile.

"Yeah, I knew he was thinking about it. I even brought it up back when he was laid up with his bad knee. I drove him to get the ring in early November. He hid the ring until he was off the crutches. Unfortunately, it was the same night Foyet reared his ugly head again."

Hotch smiled saying, "I'm glad you two have become so close. It's good for him to have a strong male role model both professionally and personally. I wasn't sure you were even going to like him when you first returned to the BAU." He finished with a laugh.

"He's an acquired taste." Joining Hotch's laughter. "But honestly, he's a good kid. It's almost like the son I've never had and I am happy that he found someone to love. This is a crazy business and having personal connections helps keep us human." He finished thoughtfully.

"So you changing your will?" Hotch asked only half joking.

"Could be." Rossi smiled. "Haven't done anything yet, but right now most of it is going to charities, I might make some changes and give him the surprise of his life," he said almost laughing.

Hotch shook his head at his friend smiling also, "I can't think of anyone that deserves that type of surprise more than him." They said their goodnights each getting into their own vehicles still smiling at the conversation.


	12. Chapter 12

The team was called to New York to help catch a released prisoner that kidnapped his daughter. Prentiss was helping transport him back to prison when the vehicle they were in was hit by a truck. With the prisoner free again, the team needed to start a new profile of the convict and figure out what he has to do with an unknown partner that helped him escape.

Once Emily was released from the hospital, Morgan brought her back to the prescient. When she walked into the room on the phone. Reid, Hotch, Rossi and JJ could hear her one side of the conversation. "I'm OK, I wasn't hurt badly. Yes, I'm sure, I'm not just saying that. Yes, the EMTs checked me over it's a light concussion and a few cuts and bruises. Nothing that won't heal. You don't need to worry about me. Yes, Sunday is good to go shopping, assuming we are back home and have solved the case. I've got to go, I need to file my report and help solve the case so we CAN get home soon. OK, I'll tell him. Bye"

Everyone was looking to Emily as she hung up the phone. "Apparently Reid, you aren't the only one Chelsea worries about when we are gone. When did you tell her I was in the accident?"

"Only about 10 minutes ago. She must have called you as soon as we hung up." Looking guilty he continued, "Sorry about that."

She smiled, "Don't be. It's kind of nice knowing that someone outside this room cares what happens to me. I'm just not used to having to explain I'm OK to anyone. I think I might be able to get used to it. By the way, she told me to tell you she loves you and be safe."

He blushed a little with the last sentence and in a low voice that only she could hear he said, "She really cares about all of the team, but especially you Emily. I know you two had a connection from the first time you guys met."

"I care about her also. Traveling around as much as I did as a kid, I've never really had female friends before, besides the team. I think I could get used to that too," she said smiling. "So let's figure this out so we can all get back home to our friends."

Just then her phone rang, "It's Garcia" she told the room as she put the call on speaker. "OK Garcia, what do you have?"

#

The team arrived back home on Friday, December 18th after the escaped convict had be killed and the unwilling accomplice's family had been saved. They were all happy to be going home and planned to go out to dinner the next night at a new Thai place in Springfield, Virginia.

Spencer and Chelsea left the Metro stop dressed for the weather and started walking the 3 blocks to the restaurant. They were holding hands as they walked the comfortable distance on the cold but clear December evening. When they were about half way there, Spencer's body tensed and his eyes seemed to glass over. Chelsea looked at him just as the strong fish odor wafted over her from a small Vietnamese restaurant. She realized he was starting to have some sort of flashback. She pulled his arm around her shoulder and he slumped over and she nearly dragged him to the end of the block, away from the smell. His body was trembling and when she looked at his eyes they had rolled back until she could only see white.

He started to gag and Chelsea realized what was about to happen was able to pull him towards a nearby trash can. The entire time she was talking to him and encouraging him that he was safe with her. He seemed to finally hear her and he looked around like he didn't know where he was. He vomited into the can and Chelsea pulled a tissue out of her purse. She continued to talk to him and told him to breath and took long, slow, deep breaths with him. They were long past the fish stench now and the cool clean air helped pull him back to the present. They continued to stand on the corner taking slow regular breaths while she rubbed his back to help calm him.

He finally regulated his breathing and settled his stomach and they found a nearby bench. Once they sat down he turned to her and said, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

"You just dragged me 500 feet and watched me throw up."

Taking a deep breath she said "Spencer it's OK, I'm glad I was here to help. You've told me many times that smell is one of the most powerful senses when it comes to a memory." Smiling, "That's why you take a travel bottle of my shampoo in your go bag right?"

"Yeah, if I can't sleep." He said shyly. "I put few drops of it with a little water on a washcloth and set it on the pillow next to me, it makes me think of you so I can sleep."

She smiled at his admission, "I love that something like that can help you sleep." Pausing, she continued, "I'm just sorry I didn't smell it tonight before you did to warn you. That was a very pungent, awful smell. It nearly made me gag. It smelled like something was rotten or fish guts." Taking his hand, "As soon as I smelled it I knew I needed to get you out of there, but you had already started to flashback. I pulled you away as soon as I realized… but it was too late, you had already been affected."

"Chelsea, it's been 2 years, 10 months, 16 days since Hankle grabbed me. I should be over this by now." Then in a very sad voice finished, "I wish I wasn't so weak."

Sounding exasperated she said, "Would you please give yourself a break! Having a reaction, caused by a very strong smell that brought back a memory of probably the most horrible time of your life, does NOT make you weak. OK? When you factor in how potent the smell was, plus your amazing memory, that will never let you forget what happened, it's not surprising that you had such a powerful reaction." She took another breath and realized she had almost been shouting at him. Softly she said, "Spence, it makes you human, not weak. You are the strongest man I know." Reaching over and turning him to look at her. "You have told me of so many things that have happened to you in your life. A lesser man would have quit his job or run a way. You faced your addictions and your nightmares and continue to save people." He didn't look like he believed her. "Spence, I'm not the only person that thinks you are strong. My grandpa does and so does your whole team. You are the only one that doesn't believe it. I wish you could see what I see."

He had finally calmed down and the color had come back to his face and he reached over and pulled her close in a hug. "Thank you for helping me through that. I've had small reactions before and managed to hold my breath and get away, but that hit me so hard, if you hadn't been there I think I may have passed out right on the sidewalk. I'm not sure how I would have explained that to the Bureau."

They sat there for a while with Spencer holding her and breathing in her scent. "Speaking of smell being the strongest memory" he said pausing. The pulled her back to look at her face.

"Do I want to know what memory you are reliving right now?" she said laughing when she saw his eyes darken with desire.

"Not if we still plan to go to meet the team and not head back home instead." He said with a smirk.

She smiled. Then turning serious, "Are you feeling up to still having dinner with the team?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I feel better. Although I really wish I had some water right now."

When they walked into the restaurant almost half an hour late Morgan raised his eyebrow and started to tease them about the reason behind their tardiness. Chelsea sternly said "Not now Morgan," without a trace of a smile in her voice. Morgan looked at them and realized something had happened. "Are you guys OK? What happened?" As Morgan was speaking, Chelsea noticed that JJ had not touched her water yet and asked if she could have it.

"Of course" JJ answered as Chelsea picked up the glass and handed it to Spencer. After he had taken a few sips, he spoke for the first time to the entire table, "Can we just change the subject please? I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it." Morgan didn't look convinced, but Hotch noticed Chelsea looking at him and nodded in understanding.

Hotch addressed the table, "OK everyone. He said he was fine, no need for an interrogation."

Rossi who had seen the subtle interaction spoke up, "I'm buying tonight so let's see what they have on their wine list."

Morgan took a breath and looked once more at Reid before giving in and smiling at Rossi. "Thanks man, I was planning on trying the Pad Kee Mao so a nice Riesling sounds perfect with it. What do you think?" The conversation started to flow and Spencer noticeably relaxed.

After dinner, Chelsea excused herself to use the restroom. Emily joined her and asked what had happened.

"I'm guessing you guys drove here and parked in the back?" Chelsea asked.

Emily confirmed it, "Yes, Morgan picked up both Garcia and me up and we parked in the lot. Why?"

"We took the Metro here so if we had some wine it wouldn't be an issue. Plus we both love to walk if it's not raining. It is only 3 blocks, but we went by a Vietnamese restaurant that was cooking some awful smelling fish. It smelled like it could be fish guts and it was extremely strong and unpleasant."

Emily's eyes got wide realizing right away what must have happened. "Oh no. Henkle. Is he OK? What happened?"

"He's going to be fine. He started to have a flashback. His eyes kind of rolled back and his body first tensed up then went limp. I thought he was going to pass out. I managed to get him down the street away from the smell. It took him a while to get his stomach to settle down. Truthfully? I was gagging also. I don't know how anyone is sitting in that restaurant. I love fish and Spencer has been able to eat fresh fish and go into restaurants that serve fish, but I've never encountered something like this before. And fortunately, neither has he. I don't think it will be a continuing problem so there isn't anything for the team to worry about. We probably stumbled across the only place in the city with that smell." Then with a laugh she continued, "We already discussed that we will NEVER walk by that place again. Even if we have to walk several blocks out of our way."

"I'm glad you were there with him." Emily said giving her a hug.

"Yeah, me too. We sat down on a bench for a while and he pulled himself together. It kind of pissed me off because he thought his reaction made him weak. We talked about it and I think he finally believed me that his reaction was human. He seems fine now. I'm sure he doesn't really want to discuss it anymore."

Emily nodded. "I'll let Morgan know so he won't bug him. You know he won't let it go until he knows what happened to you two before you walked in." Then with a laugh she said, "Big brother syndrome. He wants to fix all of Reid's problems"

Chelsea smiled at her friend as they walked back to their table, "Yeah, I get that. Thanks."


	13. Chapter 13

Everyone on the team was excited that this year they were scheduled to have two weeks off for Christmas and New Year's. They had been on call the previous year and on the clock with no break the year before. It was their team's turn for the holiday break. As the holidays got closer, they all hoped they would not get called on a case that would tie them up over the break.

Spencer and Chelsea had plans to spend Christmas Eve at her mom's annual party and spend Christmas Day at her grandpa's with several aunts and cousins visiting. Then they planned to go to Las Vegas to visit Spencer's mom and even see his dad. Spencer had contacted some family friends and managed to reserve a room at the Venetian Hotel on the strip for their stay.

The rest of the team were all excited about their plans as well. Morgan was heading home to Chicago to visit his mom and sisters. JJ and Will had plans to go visit some of Will's relatives in New Orleans. Hotch was taking Jack to Utah to play in the snow and for his first ski lesson. Garcia and Kevin were heading to sunny Miami for some alone time. Rossi had a two day book signing event scheduled and then planned the rest of his vacation hunting wild boar. Prentiss was the only member of the team that wasn't excited about the time off. She was staying in the DC area for an extended visit with her mom, mostly from guilt.

On Sunday morning Rossi called Reid at home regarding a prisoner interview. "Morning kid, sorry to bug you on a Sunday, but Hotch just called me. You probably already know that Ricky Swartz, AKA the Florida Swamp Thing, is scheduled to be put to death at Raiford Prison on January 7th. He just agreed to a pre-execution interview and said he would give the location of two more of his victims if we could figure out his clues before Christmas. Hotch thinks you would be the best person to lead the interview because of Swartz' tendency to talk in riddles and codes."

Reid thought about it for a minute, "Yeah, that would be an interesting interview, it would be nice to give two more families peace before he died. I could also write a paper on his physiological behavior. There are very few enigmatologist psychopaths that we are aware of." Pausing for a moment, he continued "Can we please not call him The Swamp Thing? I will never understand the ridiculous names that people label serial killers, but a psychopath being named after a DC Comic character that has nothing to do with the way he murdered people is the worst. Did you know.."

Rossi cut him off, "You can tell me more about The Swamp Thing comics later. Right now I'm letting you know that Hotch would like you take the lead on this one."

"OK, but he wants us to figure everything out before Christmas, that doesn't leave us much time."

"That's why I'm calling today. Hotch was able to get us into see him tomorrow morning. If we leave tonight, we could finish up and be back Tuesday morning before vacation starts on Wednesday."

"That's assuming I can figure out his puzzle that fast." Reid said not sounding sure of his abilities.

"I have faith in you. You've cracked complicated codes before, I'm sure you can do this also."

"I thought Hotch would jump at the chance to talk to this guy?" Reid said thinking out loud.

"Yeah, I thought so too, but he asked me to go with you. Something about thinking he might be distracted with everything that has been going on in his life and the last time you both interviewed a prisoner, Chester Hardwick, he wasn't in top form and you saved the day."

"Ahhh… well…," Reid didn't know what to say remembering how he had to talk his way out of Hardwick killing both he and Hotch. "Yeah, that interview wasn't Hotch's best work. Hailey was pushing for a non-contested divorce at the time and his mind wasn't really all there."

"I remember something about it, but I was out chasing my own demons that day. Maybe you can fill me in on what happened tonight over a drink in Florida. Garcia is booking our hotel and setting up the arrangements for the jet. I'll come pick you up on my way to the airstrip at around 6:00."

"OK, I'll see you tonight. At least it looks like we won't get a case and be able to take the two weeks off."

Chelsea had been listening to Spencer's side of the conversation and he was writing down what Rossi told him about going to Florida tonight. When he hung up, she sighed and said, "Well, now you've jinxed it."

"What?" Spencer looked confused. "Jinxed? Jinxed what exactly?"

"Your vacation." She continued when Spencer didn't understand. "You just told Dave that because you two are going away that your team won't get a case."

"I don't believe in jinxes and it is unlikely they will send our team on a case since we will be two men down."

#

Later that night, Reid and Rossi checked into the hotel and went out to dinner. Rossi received a call from Hotch around 10:00pm to let them know the jet was heading back to Quantico and the rest of the team was leaving early for a case in Jackson, Mississippi. After they finished the interview the next evening, the jet would bring them to Mississippi also.

After hanging up, Rossi turned to Reid, "Well, the team was just called to Mississippi for a serial. The jet is heading back to Quantico now and will pick us up tomorrow night around 6:00 for us to join them. I hope it's easy so we will be home by Christmas."

"Chelsea is going to kill me. She's going to say this is my fault."

Rossi looked at him confused, "How can any of this be your fault? You didn't have anything to do with us getting this case. None of us did. The Sheriff contacted JJ just a few hours ago. The Bureau passed it through to her home line."

"I know. It's crazy, but she told me I jinxed it and we were going to get a case, and now we did." He stated sounding more sad and upset.

"You DID jinx it. She overheard you telling me that we wouldn't be getting a case since we were doing the interview, didn't she?" Rossi said with a grin on his face. "You know you should NEVER say something like that. Then it WILL happen."

"That's ridiculous. There is no more of a chance we will get a case if I said that or not." He sounded incredulous.

"Then why are you worried about Chelsea killing you. Just tell her that." Rossi couldn't stop laughing.

Reid just threw him a dirty look. "Because it DID happen and she said it would. Even though I know SHE knows it's just bad luck and not due to the superstition, she's going to continue to say it was my fault. I really can't win here and I don't want to call and tell her I may not be able to make it to her mom's Christmas Eve party." finishing with almost a pout.

"She probably will tease you about it, but you're right, she knows it was just a coincidence." Then Rossi paused, he couldn't help himself by saying. "But don't you always say you don't believe in coincidences?"

All Reid said was "Shut up" and Rossi continued to laugh.

"OK kid, it's time for us to head up to our rooms and get some sleep. We may not get any for the next few nights."

Reid nodded and followed the elder agent towards the elevator. "What do you think would happen if I didn't call Chelsea tonight?"

"If you don't call she will think something happened to you. Then when she finds out that you're OK and just didn't want to call her to keep her from teasing you, then she probably really WILL kill you when you get home."

"That doesn't make sense. She will really want kill me because she's pissed nothing happened to me?"

"You really don't understand women," Rossi paused for a moment, "or sarcasm, do you?" when Reid just shook his head, he continued. "She's going to be sad and upset that you might not make it back for Christmas and she will probably sarcastically say it was your fault because you jinxed it. She won't be mad at YOU, just the situation. BUT, if you don't call her and she thinks you are injured, then she really will be mad and this time AT you. Make sense?"

When Reid nodded, Rossi patted him on the shoulder saying, "Go call her. Take her teasing about it being your fault because she really will be sad and it's a good way for her to let off steam about it. Then just tell her you will do everything you can to solve it fast and so will everyone else. We all want to get home for Christmas."


End file.
